A former Concord developer has commended Bungie for taking a risk with Marathon, saying the game “isn’t proven, nor guaranteed to succeed.” The Halo and Destiny maker unveiled new gameplay for it’s highly anticipated extraction shooter over the weekend, with many potential players questioning the studio’s wider pricing and content decisions. Bungie is launching Marathon as a premium but not “full-priced” game with a battle pass, which has led to some calling it a potential ‘Concord 2.0.’ Now, a Firewalk Studios developer has stepped in to praise Bungie’s effort.
It’s no secret that Concord was a failure. Sony and Firewalk Studios attempted to bring a new contender to the hero shooter space, and after mere weeks of dismal player counts, the FPS game was brought offline. Firewalk Studios itself was closed down soon after, and Sony decided to “permanently sunset” the game.
It’s not hyperbolic to say that the almost immediate closure of Concord was huge. It showed that not even Sony, one of the world’s biggest developers, was immune to misjudging the market. With the Marathon release date looming, players are understandably worried Bungie’s new game could end up much the same. To that end, ex-Concord developer Stephan ‘MrSpug’ Williams has taken to Reddit to voice their support for Marathon, while praising Bungie for stepping outside its realm of expertise.
“Hey all, former Firewalk Studios dev here,” Williams writes. “After reading the comments about Marathon being Concord 2.0 on Reddit, YouTube, and Twitch, I just wanted to share a little insight into what a forty-year-old man is feeling after dedicating a large portion of his life to making videogames.
“Many players know about Concord, and what happened with that project. Concord failed to inspire players, and the messages was heard loud and clear. It was gut-wrenching to see our project fail, and be the laughingstock of many online. I have learned that failure, is what drives me to succeed. No one feels as bad as the people who put their time on the line, hoping it will entertain the masses of gamers across the globe. I am not asking for pity, or even sympathy because, after all this is the name of the game, you win or lose. The margin for success is very thin. I took a chance, and lost.
“Some of you probably smell blood in the water, and probably want to roast me for no longer lurking, and exposing myself. I hope you don’t, and see that people create these projects, and work very hard to be the next big thing. Seeing the faces of the developers on the Bungie stream, gave me hope, and excitement for what is to come for Marathon,” Williams continues. “I commend them for taking a chance, trying something foreign to them, that isn’t proven, nor guaranteed to succeed. It takes a lot of courage.”
While we wait to see more of Bungie’s next game, make sure you check out the full Marathon voice actors list. Otherwise, there are more multiplayer games to keep you busy.
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